Saturday, January 03, 2015

RECOGNIZED IN YUMA AS WE HIT A COUPLE FLEA MARKETS/SWAP MEETS

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NOPE NOT THE REAL McCOY……JUST BOTTOM HALF MANNEQUINS

Kelly had it on her mind for us to head off into Yuma this morning.  Couple Flea Market/Swap Meet places to go plus a Walmart stop.  With Pheebs staying home holding the fort Kelly & I headed off into the southwest Arizona city just a short 20 minute easy drive away. 

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HAVEN’T HAD A BIRD PHOTO FOR A COUPLE WEEKS SO HERE’S A FEW GUYS SQUABBLING OVER HALF A TOMATO ONE OF THEM PILFERED FROM A NEARBY MEXICAN VENDOR…RED WING BLACKBIRD ON LEFT IS JUST LANDING

Yuma is an easy city to get around in.  Interstate 8 runs right through it easy as pie.  We’ve never had any problems finding our way around & this morning was no exception.  We had punched the Mexican Swap Meet location into our Garmin Gertie GPS & she led us right to it.  Now keep in mind here this is just my opinion which follows but we did not care for the old Yuma Mexican Flea Market at the Fairgrounds.  Just not our kind of merchandise there.  Many food vendors & fresh vegetable stalls along with reams & reams of Mexican clothing booths.  A lot of ticky tacky trinkety kind of stuff with much of it being repetitive.  Yes it’s a festive atmosphere alright with about every 4th booth ‘booooooming’ out that Mexican oompa-oompa accordion & horns kinda music.  Fine if you don’t mind being accosted by that kind of noise but it’s just not my cup of tea.  We just kinda walked through it quickly & the only thing we saw which remotely interested us was something we actually ended up buying.  Two hot dogs & boy did I make a mess out of myself with all the toppings on my big dog.  By the time I was finished I looked like I had been dive bombed by a whole herd of Gringo birds carrying payloads of ‘Montezuma’s Revenge.’  Told Kelly I’d probably need a garden hose to clean myself up.  We should have sat down at a table to eat our hot dogs but the tables were in the shade & it was still cold enough for me to see my breath so we stood in a sunny area to keep the sun on us.  I think we were back to the Jeep & out of there in less than half an hour.

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KELLY ASKED THIS GUY WHAT HE WAS STIRRING UP & HE SAID IT WAS PORK MEAT & PORK STOMACH…IT’S NO WONDER I DO NOT CARE FOR MEXICAN FOOD!!!!

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HERE’S MY HOT DOG WITH ONE HEFTY BITE OUT OF THE OTHER END…ABOUT A THIRD OF ALL THAT STUFF MISSED MY MOUTH & ENDED UP ON THE REST OF ME & MY CAMERA

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METICULOUS KELLY NEVER EVEN DROPPED SO MUCH AS A CHILE PEPPER

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Kelly punched into our GPS the location of Yuma’s second Flea Market about a dozen blocks away called the Arizona Market Place & off we went.  Temperatures were coming up making for a nice sunny day.   This second place was well organized with aisles of vendors having lots of useful RV oriented merchandise.  Reminded me right away of Quartzsite but without all the desert dust blowing around.  Kind of like in the ‘Big Tent’.  We walked all the aisles stopping here & there & making a few purchases.  A water saving shower head, some LED bulbs for the coach & half a dozen other things I have forgotten already.  I would definitely recommend this place if you’re a needin some RV stuff.  Lots of goodies in the Tool Barn.  Clean washrooms, a guy singing country & western tunes in the large food court & by golly somebody selling Tim Horton’s coffee.  Well that’s what the label on the heated carafe said but it certainly was not Tim Hortons coffee.  It was Okay but it was not Timmies!!  While browsing through one of the booths we heard, “are you the Bayfield Bunch?”  A couple had spotted our Jeep in the parking lot & were familiar with my blog.  They had read about us buying our Triple E.  A brief chat & they were on their way.  I think they might have been from Wyoming or Montana.  The fella did tell me, but…… 

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YEP SURE REMINDS ME OF QUARTZSITE ALRIGHT

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My legs do not do well when in browse/aimless shopping mode.  Walking & dragging along slow looking at stuff is a whole lot harder on my legs than hiking Ghost Mountain or running up & down Coyote Mountain.  Had to sit on a wooden Geezer bench for a bit while Kelly carried on through a few more booths.  Needless to say I was mighty glad to get back to our soft seats in the Jeep!! 

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A WATER MASSAGER & YOU DON’T EVEN GET WET INSIDE

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NOPE,  DIDN’T TASTE LIKE OUR SWEET CANADIAN TIMMIES TO ME

Our third stop was an in-town familiar Walmart.  Familiar because we have been there several times before years ago.  There is a McDonalds inside which is memorable to me because that is where we first met at the time fellow RV Bloggers JoAnn & the late Doug Dubrouillet.  Sitting in the far corner booth that morning it was JoAnn & Doug who approached us with the idea of ranch sitting for friends of theirs in McNeil Arizona.  JoAnn asked, “is that something you would be interested in??  Darn tootin we would & the rest of course is Bayfield Bunch history.

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IT WAS IN THE BOOTH UNDER THE FAR LIGHT  WE FIRST MET DOUG & JOANN:))

From Walmart it was right back out into the desert to our rig & the fabulous Pheebs.  We never have to worry about her but we do anyway so we’re always anxious to get home after we have been away for a few hours.  Warm enough this afternoon to sit out for awhile & being able to be comfortably outside is always icing on the cake for anyone down south dodging northern winters.  We should be around 70 soon & for me personally that is my favorite temperature.  Below 65 & anything over 80 just does not work for me & especially if it has any kind of humidity with it.DSC_0005

THE OLD YUMA MEXICAN SWAP MEET FLEA MARKET

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SOME TIGHT FITTING LADIES CLOTHES AND…………… MEXICAN MUSLIMS??

Between the Arizona Market Place & Walmart is the large Yuma United States Marine Corps Airbase so I swung the Jeep down past the base in hopes of seeing some active aircraft but no luck.  Couldn’t even so much as see a runway.  We did see a sign further on for a place called The Peanut Patch about a mile east of the airbase so we drove ourselves on down there to see if I could find myself some real peanut butter.  I much prefer natural peanut butter instead of the salty supermarket stuff.  I was in luck & got me a 2 pound tub of the good stuff:))

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MAIN GATE TO THE BASE IS JUST TO THE RIGHT OF THESE DISPLAY AIRCRAFT

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GROANER’S CORNER:((  Test your IQ with this situation:
There is a mute who wants to buy a toothbrush.
By imitating the action of brushing one's teeth he successfully expresses himself to the shopkeeper and the purchase is done.  Now if there is a blind man who wishes to buy a pair of sunglasses, how should he express himself?  Think, and then scroll down for the answer.
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He just has to open his mouth and ask…………so simple.
If you got this wrong, please --  just go dig a hole and hide for awhile.

15 comments:

  1. "KELLY ASKED THIS GUY WHAT HE WAS STIRRING UP & HE SAID IT WAS PORK MEAT & PORK STOMACH…IT’S NO WONDER I DO NOT CARE FOR MEXICAN FOOD!!!!"

    Aren't you the one that just polished off two hot dogs? Do you know what goes into them? LOL

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  2. We'll have to remember The Peanut Patch when we get to Yuma. We like fresh ground PB or almond butter to use on our apple that we take hiking because it is thicker.

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  3. Love to find fresh fruits and vegies at the markets, and old cool stuff, and maybe even RV stuff. But all that tacky $1 store stuff, yuck.

    Totally agree with Nancy above.

    Sunny walk to Clark Dry Lake today.

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  4. We preferred the Arizona Market Place too. We've never been to the Peanut Patch although we've seen the sign, guess we better check it out.

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  5. Enjoyed the jeans pic and the aircraft, nice temps too. It is 72 at midnight here.

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  6. Nice to see that you got to both those markets, they each have interesting atmospheres.

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  7. We've been to the Market Place many times. The stuff never seems to change. I'd like to track down that Peanut Place though.

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  8. Next you will find it hard to go anywhere without people noticing you and wanting to talk about RVing, Canada, etc. After that comes the stage when paparazzi follow you everywhere. The trouble with fame is if there's too much of it...

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  9. I wonder if Tim Horton's knows that someone is selling "their" coffee? Of course, they've lost control of that company anyway, IN MY OPINION, of course.
    Hard to avoid all those fawning fans...

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  10. I knew someone would catch the Mexican food ingredients vs the hot dogs you ate comparison.....Still, the hot doges HIDE it so much better :-) I haven't been to Yuma in over 30 years so I imagine nothing would be familiar to me. Looks like the swap meets offer enough variety for anyone, but a slow walk on concrete and asphalt wipes me out regardless of the wares being peddled. Will have to find the Peanut Patch - they should pay you in peanut butter for advertising!!

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  11. The guy was stirring a big pot of menudo which is far better for you than a hot dog. Nancy 1340 has it right when she asked "Do you know what goes into them?"

    I'm guessing that what you call the "Old Yuma Mexican Swap Meet Flea Market" at the Fairgrounds is what is called the Yuma Swap Meet (once called Yuma Park-n-Swap) at an old Greyhound Racetrack. It is probably the oldest year around Swap Meet/Flea Market in Yuma and the people that go there are mostly from Yuma or tourist that want a Mexico experience without going to Mexico. The Mexican influence should not be a surprise to anyone going to Yuma since the population is 54.8% Hispanic or Latino and increasing every census.

    The Arizona Market Place is only open mid-October to mid-April and caters to Snowbirds be they RVers or seasonal renters.

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  12. I don't like big markets of any kind (Quartzite bums me out!), but I would have preferred the first one, maybe because it is just a bit different and I like Mexican music!

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  13. We're pulling in to Pilot Knob Tuesday and the Yuma Fairgrounds is first on our list after we get set up so Joe can watch his much loved jets land and take off. Then we'll probably hit Golden Corral :) The weekend will be reserved for the Arizona Market. Glad you are enjoying your stay in the area

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  14. Actually, I love the Mariachi music of Mexico..I even own a CD of it...I find it romantic and I think the country itself has a very exotic "flavor" to it..the colors, the mountains, the music..Yep, I AM a weird one! Love the food too, but never tried the menudo..I do, however, like chicken gizzarsd and livers, so innards are on my list of good foods! Go figure!

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  15. Hi Al, you like more natural peanut butter? Try the NutriNinja 2-in-1. We replaced our blender and food processor with one late last year. There are some youtube videos showing you how to make your own. It takes up very little space in our RV.

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